HOUSTON - The No. 2 UCLA men's tennis team suffered its first loss of the 2014 season on Sunday afternoon in the semifinals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoors, falling to No. 3 USC, 4-3 in a tightly contested battle at the Downtown Club at the Met in Houston, Texas.

UCLA (7-1) actually fell behind 0-3 in Sunday's cross-town showdown, as the Trojans claimed the doubles point and then the first two matches in singles play. The Bruins, however, were determined to not go down without a fight.

Freshman Joseph Di Giulio would put UCLA on the board at court No. 6, where he was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Michael Grant. Another freshman, Gage Brymer, posted another straight-set win to cut the lead to 3-2, as he downed Trojan freshman Connor Farren, 6-4, 6-4 at court No. 4.

Bruin senior Clay Thompson, the No. 1 player in America, then tied the match at 3-3 when he outlasted seventh-ranked Ray Sarmiento, 6-2, 6-5(7) at court No. 1.